Mill's Utilitarianism

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The moral theory of utilitarianism was popularized by John Stuart Mill. Mill made note of this theory with his book Utilitarianism, published in 1861. In this book, Mill claims that he did not invent utilitarianism; rather, he just gave it a name. Utilitarianism is the belief that the best course of action to take in life is the one that provides the most utility in the world. In Mill’s book, utility is defined as all possible pleasure or happiness lumped into one massive collection of goodness. With this, the moral theory of utilitarianism can be defined as the best course of action in life is one that provides the most happiness in the world. This is just the surface of utilitarianism, though. In this paper, I will explain the three principles …show more content…
This principle echoes the belief of hedonism, which states that one should do everything in the pursuit of happiness. This means you should do anything and everything that makes you happy, unhindered and undeterred by anything that attempts to stand in your way. Going back to the previous examples, will passing the exam make you happy? If the answer is cheating, then you should cheat, as all that matters is being happy in the end. However, will passing the exam by cheating make you happy? If the answer is still yes, then cheat. But if the answer is no, you will not feel happy by cheating, then you should not cheat; instead, find another way to pass the exam and make you happy. This is the consequence that matters in the first principle: be happy, no matter what action you take. But let us loop back around to the other example presented in the first principle: to save a million, would you kill one? According to the first two principles, if it makes you unhappy to kill that one, then you should not. However, the third principle of utilitarianism brings up something contrary to …show more content…
That is, your happiness matters as much as your family’s, and their happiness matters as much as a complete stranger’s: everyone’s happiness is equal, and no one’s happiness trumps anyone else’s happiness. How does this relate to the example of saving a million by killing one? According to the first two principles, you should not kill the one if it makes you unhappy. However, the third principle dictates that everyone’s happiness matters on equal amounts. That means the happiness of the million matters as much as your happiness, and the happiness of the one that must die to save them. Your happiness ultimately does not matter anymore, as you now have to consider the happiness of one million and one people. With these three principles in mind, which action ultimately matters the most? The action that produces the most happiness for everyone involved would be to kill the one to save the million: even if it makes you upset, that would be the proper course of action to make the most amount of happiness in the
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